Golf club



May 8, 1934. l.. J. cocKE 1,958,032

vGOLF CLUB Filed July 6, 1931 IN1/LN IOR,A

atented May 8, 1934 GOLF CLUB Louis .i'ustin Cooke, Birmingham, Ala.

Application July 2 Claims.

golf club, particthe shaft thereof This invention relates to a ularly tomeans for attaching to the head.

It is well known that any golf club shaft, whether made of wood ormetal, is likely to become bowed or bent, either gradually, because ofreadjustinent of the strains set up in the shaft when it is made, or bya sudden accident.

A bend or `bow in a golf shaft, if it is in that vertical plane passingthrough the shaft and the body of the user, when the user is in thatposition usually assumed at the instant of contact between a ballto bedriven and the club head, is not nearly so objectionable as is a bend ina plane at a right angle to that specified.

l-Ieretofore, shafts have been attached to the heads by means ofsubstantially a permanent nature, in that they were not readilyadjustable in the hands of the ordinary user, so that, if the shaft of agolf club became bowed or bent it was either necessary to discard italtogether or have a person skilled in the making or repairing of golfclubs attend to it.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a means,easily manipulated by the ordinary user, by which a shaft is attached tothe head of a golf club.

A further object of the present invention is to provide means of thekind specified which will require, for assembly and disassembly, no toolmore unusual than an ordinary screw driver.

A further object of the present invention is to provide means of thekind specified which will be of a type allowing the shaft of a golf clubto be, at will, rotated on its longitudinal axis to a new position.

@ther objects and advantages will appear as the description of theparticular physical ernbodiments selected to illustrate the inventionprogresses, and the novel features of the invention will be particularlypointed out in the appended claims.

In describing the invention in detail, and the particular physicalembodiment selected to illustrate the invention, reference will be hadto the accompanying drawing and the several views thereon in which likecharacters of reference designate like parts throughout the severalviews, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a golf club embodying myinvention, but with some parts broken away to more clearly show theconstruction; Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the device, as shown by Fig.1, on the plane indicated r by the line II-Il, viewed in the directionof 6, 1931, Serial No. 548,958

(Cl. Z'YS-Sm the arrows at the ends of the line; Fig. 3 is a sectionalview on the plane indicated by the line III- Ill of Fig. 2, viewed in ofthe arrows at the ends o 1-1 designates the head In the drawing:

golf club; S designates the handle.

the direction f the line.

of a shaft; and L the .The shaft S is preferably made of metal, such asstainless steel.

1t, preferably,

has a uniform taper from the handle end to a waist portion about at thepoint 1. portion downwardly, that is, it becomes tion to the end 2.

Of course, it is plicants tapering from the handle endto any other formfor such it is not intended to eX- not meant to exclude portion of theshaft, as

ireferably from the waist it also tapers, but reversely, larger from thewaist porto be understood, that apshowing and description of a shaft Sthe waist 1 is clude a shaft which does not have a uniform taper or evenwhich does not taper at all, or

which tapers merely in steps.

The portion from the waist 1 to the end 2 should, preferably, however,be tapered,

is larger than at The head H is tending stern 3.

the end of the shaft used,

preferred to have this a tapered portion 4. It is 4 when the underlyingand tapered so that the end 2 the waist l.

formed with an upwardly eX- This stem is formed to match and preferably,with frictional engageand the portion the tapered por- 4 should bedebasic principles in mind the occasional difference in material of thehead, and should probably approximate the well known Morse tapercommonly used in machine tool parts, such, for instance, as drillsformed with a In order to keep the lower shaft S securely seated upontapered shank.

tapered end of the the tapered protuberance 4 of the head H, applicantprefers to utilize a shouldered screw 5. have a shoulder,

abutment rigid with the head H,

screw should against some This shouldered such as 6, bearing and makescrew threaded engagement with a portion rigid with the shaft S.

As a shoulder rigid with the head H, applicant '7, engaging threads 8prefers a threaded sleeve in a bore 9 made line substantially portion 4.This with a bore 10 adapted to screw 5 with the shoulder 6 through theforming the axis threaded sleeve head H along the of the tapered 'Z isprovided receive the shouldered thereof resting against the lower end.This lower end forms an abutment, rigid with the head H.

Applicant desires to have it understood that the specific showing anddescription of a sleeve 7, forming an abutment is not meant to exclude aconstruction in which the abutment is integral with the head.

For makingscrew threaded engagement of the shouldered sleeve 5 with theshaft S, applicant prefers a plug ll formed with a threaded bore l2 forengagement with the threads 13 of the shouldered screw 5. This plug l1is preferably formed to substantially t into the tapered lower portionof the shaft S, and to be maintained in position therein by any suitablemeans, such as soldering or welding which thereby rigidly unites theplug 1l and the shaft S.

When shaft S has its lower end positioned over the tapered portion 4 ofthe head H and the shouldered screw 5 is passed through the threadedsleeve 7 and screwed into the plug ll so as to bring the shoulder 5tightly against the lower end of the threaded sleeve 7, the internaltaper of the lower end of the shaft S and the external taper of theportion 4 of the head H will be drawn so tightly together that therewill be a total absence of rotative movement between the shaft S and thehead H when a golf ball is struck by the head H.

If any accident happens to the shaft S, or the readjustment of strainstherein results in a bowing or bending of the shaft S, the shoulderedscrew 5 may be efficiently loosened, by inserting a screw driver throughthe orifice in the bottom of the head H engaging with the slot le of theshouldered screw 5, so that the head H and the shaft S may be rotated,relatively, one to the other, on the axis of the shaft S so that any bowor bend in the shaft S may be brought into such position that it willlie in a vertical plane through the axis of the shaft S and the body ofthe user when standing in the usual position at the instant of strikingthe golf ball.

If for any reason the shaft S becomes so damaged as to be quiteunuseable, then a new shaft S may be purchased and placed in position onthe head H, so that a user is in position to salvage either the head orthe shaft of a damaged club. If the shaft is damaged, the head may besal- Ivaged; if the head is damaged, a new head may be purchased, andthe shaft thereby salvaged.

Although I have particularly described one particular physicalembodiment of my invention and explained the principle and mode ofoperation and construction thereof, nevertheless, I desire to have itunderstood that the form selected is merely illustrative, but does notexhaust the possible physical embodiments of the idea of meansunderlying my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is:

l. A golf club, including a head and a shaft, said shaft formed with ahollow lower end, and said head formed with an abutment and with a intothe lower hollow end of the shaft; a plug formed with a threaded borerigidly attached in the lower end of said shaft and a shouldered screwengaging the threaded bore of said plug and having its shoulder restingagainst the abutment of said head.

2. In a golf club, in combination: a head formed with a stem, and a borepassing through the stem parallel to the aXis thereof and opening at thebottom of the head and at the end of the stem and formed with aninternal thread, said stem further formed tapered externally; anexternally threaded sleeve, formed with a bore, positioned in screwthreaded engagement with the thread in the bore of the head; a shaft,said shaft at its lower end being formed tapered and hollow and fittingtightly over the tapered stem of the head; a plug with an internallythreaded bore positioned within the lower end of the shaft; and ashouldered screw passing through the sleeve and in threaded engagementwith the plug with the shoulder thereof resting against the end of thethreaded sleeve whereby the shaft and the head are drawn firmly togetherforcing the tapered stem into and in close engagement with the inside ofthe lower tapered end of the shaft.

LOUIS JUSTIN COCKE.

